Syllabus: Dip BA

Programme details for the Diploma in Business Administration

Courses Presented in This Programme

The Dip BA includes the following compulsory courses:

• Organizational Behaviour
• Organizational Theory
• Human Resources Management
• Public Relations Management
• Financial Management
• Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management

Duration of the Programme

This programme has a minimum learning duration of eight months before the qualification certificate can be issued. The maximum learning duration is normally two years.

Prerequisites

Completion of the Cert BA or having been granted the status of a Cert BA qualification through the process of recognition of prior earning (RPL), as confirmed by the CU Senate.

Single courses may be enrolled for to complete other qualifications. In such cases the student must consider that the courses sequentially before each course were selected by CU to serve as foundational knowledge for the more advanced courses.

Organizational Behaviour

Credits: 22

Synopsis. In this course students are encouraged to engage with a variety of questions, exercises, case applications, and skill-building modules. It's three-level model analysis – the individual, the group, and the organization system – prepares students to explain and predict behaviour in organizations.

Outline. The following aspects are reflected in this course:

• What is organizational behaviour?
• Foundations of individual behaviour
• Values, attitudes, and job satisfaction
• Personality and emotions
• Perception and individual decision-making
• Basic motivation concepts
• Motivation: from concepts to applications
• Foundations of group behaviour
• Understanding work teams
• Communication
• Basic approaches to leadership
• Contemporary issues in leadership
• Power and politics
• Conflict and negotiation
• Foundations of organization structure
• Work design and technology
• Human resource policies and practices
• Organizational culture
• Organizational change and stress management

Organizational Theory

Credits: 18

Synopsis. Organizational theory is the study of how organizations function and how they affect and are affected by the environment in which they operate. In this course, we examine the principles that underlie the design, operation, change, and redesign of organizations to maintain and increase their effectiveness. Understanding how organizations operate, however, is only the first step in learning how to control and change organizations so that they can effectively create wealth and resources. Thus, the second aim of this course is to equip you with the conceptual tools to influence organizational situations in which you find yourself. The lessons of organizational design and change are as important at the level of first-line supervisor as they are at the level of chief executive officer, in small or large organizations, and in settings as diverse as the not-profit organization or the assembly line of a manufacturing company.

People and managers knowledgeable about organizational design and change are able to analyse the structure and culture of the organization for which they work (or which they wish to help, such as a charity or church), diagnose problems, and make adjustments that help the organization to achieve its goals.

Outline. The following aspects are reflected in this course:

• Organizations and organizational effectiveness
• Stakeholders, managers, and ethics
• Managing in a changing global environment
• Basic challenges of organizational design
• Designing organizational structure: authority and control
• Designing organizational structure: specialization and coordination
• Creating and managing organizational culture
• Organizational design and strategy in a changing global environment
• Organizational design, competences, and technology
• Types and forms of organizational change
• Organizational transformations: birth, growth, decline, and death
• Decision making, learning, knowledge management, and information technology
• Innovation, intrepreneurship, and creativity
• Managing conflict, power, and politics

Human Resources Management

Credits: 20

Synopsis. This course offers a balance of practical and applied material as well as underlying Human Resource Management theory. It reflects the latest information, including the impact of global competition and rapid technological advances, that have accelerated trends such as shared service centres, outsourcing and just-in-time training. A wealth of actual company examples demonstrates how concepts are being used in today's leading-edge organizations.

Outline. The following aspects are reflected in this course:

• Human resource management: an overview
• The environment of human resource management
• Equal employment opportunity and affirmative action
• Job analysis and human resource planning
• Recruitment
• Internet recruiting
• Selection
• Training and development
• Career planning and development
• Performance appraisal
• Compensation
• Benefits and other compensation issues
• A safe and healthy work environment
• The evolution of labour unions
• Labour management relations
• Internal employee relations
• Global human resource management

Public Relations Management

Credits: 19

Synopsis. This course uses a unique hands-on approach that prompts students to think critically about public relations. It provides cases, the ethical challenges, the "how to" counsel, and the public relations conundrums that encourage students to think. It prepares students to deal with a full range of situations – and to arrive at effective, ethical solutions.

Outline. The following aspects are reflected in this course:

• What is public relations?
• Growth of public relations
• Communication
• Management
• Public opinion
• Ethics
• Law
• Research
• Print media relations
• Electronic media relations
• Employee relations
• Multicultural community relations
• Government relations
• Consumer relations
• Investor relations
• International relations
• Writing
• Writing for eye and ear
• PR and the Internet
• Integrated marketing
• Crisis management
• The golden age

Financial Management

Credits: 23

Synopsis. This course approaches finance with a focused concentration on the fundamental concepts, techniques, and practices of managerial finance. Integrating pedagogy with the concepts and practical applications necessary for a solid understanding of managerial finance, this course equips students to concentrate on the concepts, techniques, and practices for keen financial decision making in an increasingly competitive business environment.

Outline. The following aspects are reflected in this course:

• The role and environment of managerial finance
• Financial statements and analysis
• Cash flow and financial planning
• Time value of money
• Risk and return
• Interest rates and bond valuation
• Stock valuation
• Capital budgeting cash flows
• Capital budgeting techniques
• Risk and refinements in capital budgeting
• The cost of capital
• Leverage and capital structure
• Dividend policy
• Working capital and current asset management
• Current liability management
• Hybrid and derivative securities
• Mergers, IBOs, divestitures, and business failure
• International managerial finance

Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management

Credits: 20

Synopsis. This course offers complete coverage of the essential topics in small business management and entrepreneurship. With an abundance of real-world examples, and practical hands-on exercises and activities, it provides a no-nonsense real-world approach that follows the logical process and critical issues of creating, launching, and managing a successful small business.

Outline. The following aspects are reflected in this course:

• The foundations of entrepreneurship
• Inside the entrepreneurial mind: from ideas to reality
• Strategic management and the entrepreneur
• Forms of business ownership and franchising
• Buying an existing business
• Building a powerful marketing plan
• E-commerce and the entrepreneur
• Integrated marketing communications and pricing strategies
• Managing cash flow
• Creating a successful financial plan
• Crafting a winning business plan
• Sources of financing: debt and equity
• Choosing the right location and layout
• Global aspects of entrepreneurship
• Leading the growing company and planning for management succession

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